


The Humane Factor

by GlitterInk



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, miqo'te warrior of light - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterInk/pseuds/GlitterInk
Summary: Two people reunite under unusual circumstances.
Relationships: Gaius van Baelsar/Original Character, Gaius van Baelsar/Warrior of Light
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	The Humane Factor

With more than a shower’s worth of thoughts crammed into her throbbing skull, after thwarting the empire’s first iteration of the weapon project the Warrior of Light retired to Castellum Velodyna to lick her equally plentiful wounds. For all of the errands she ran for the betterment and reclamation of their territory, the Ananta took no issue with her retreating to the old soldier’s quarters to scrub the grime and other greasy unmentionables away.

For the first few floors, every hallway she glanced down there were signs of the recent inhabitants—regal carpets, boxes brimming with golden trinkets and glittering enchantments. By the time she reached the communal showers, however, it’d become increasingly apparent just how much work was left to do. Everywhere she turned there was emblazoned that offensive insignia, from the solid walls to the machinations wrought into a structure of imperial subjugation.

Coated in a fine layer of dust, the room was as in much need of a wash as she. As the beastmen themselves had no need for such elaborate technology for a painfully simple task, the miqo’te was scarcely surprised to find personal effects that’d been abandoned come the battle that forced the imperials from their own base: snapshots of lives long gone, and among them likely those she’d ended herself.

Mauh bothered with none of it as she stepped into a stall. At the very least, that modicum of privacy in the very unlikely incident of company was enough to ease her into peeling the garb from her person. There was an artificial “tan-line” of gristle between her naked form and attire— _gross_ —and even as she eyed herself with distaste the warrior couldn’t shake the complimentary words parted from the least likely of sources:

Unmistakable. _Impressive_ , even.

Giving the knob a good crank, the miqo’te blinked when denied the cool refreshment she was anticipating. _Maybe to the left, instead..?_

Turning it this way and that, giving it a good press—nothing seemed to appease the finicky apparatus. Why did Garlean technology have to be so needlessly complicated? What would Alpa think when she sheepishly resurfaced as filthy as before?

Very naked and increasingly afraid, the situation took a turn for the worse when the door pushed open prior to heavy footsteps echoing off the cracked tiles.

What..what the fuck?

Peeking under the wall, she just barely recognized the former legatus by his chewed curtails and dusty leather boots. Of the rotten luck and unfeasible coincidences.. Then again, perhaps it was no coincidence after all.

Speak of the devil, and he shall come.

Was Gaius van Baelsar’s journey of atonement a pretense? Had he finally come to reap his revenge?

Seized with the terror of being so vulnerable—barren—in a room with him, Mauh fret over the best course of action. Did she announce her presence? Make a mad dash without a word? Clasping a hand over her mouth, she tried to still her breathing. She’d wait until the water was running: he wouldn’t hear her hasty exit then.

Over the rapid thrumming of her heart it became apparent that the black wolf, too, thought himself finally, _finally_ alone when he let stress escape as air between his teeth—a jagged, painful sigh.

Mauh wasn’t the only one on whom the Ruby Weapon took its toll, but unlike him she couldn’t claim to bear the baggage of her dead daughter’s blood on her hands. It provided an unprecedented insight to his psyche, one she would have dismissed as a “lucky” coincidence meant to tug at the heartstrings were it not for the outstanding evidence gathered by Hydaelyn’s blessing.. or _curse_.

 _Gaius was hurting._ Who would have thought it possible? As he went about his business she struggled to see beyond the sharp, ugly scowl cut into his former face, and yet.. While focused elsewhere, the miqo’te’s swishing tail managed to knock a stray razor skittered across the tile.

Bristling at this unwelcome intrusion and caught woefully off guard, the Shadowhunter groped for his gunblade, “Identify yourself,”

With the weapon seconds from shedding her fragile dignity and no choice but to abide, the woman’s pale face manifested from behind the curtain: the ghost of his past in the flesh.

“I.. it’s me,”

“..Mauh? What are you doing here?”

“The same as you, I should think,”

“..Ah. I’ll leave, you to it, then,”

What? He would let her be, just like that?

He was nearly gone when she forwent sense and stopped him. Gaius was a Garlean; he could help!

“Wait!” refusing to allow this opportunity to pass her by, she wrestled back into her smallclothes, “Wait.. can you help me with something?”

The look Gaius wore as he edged around to face her was priceless. What exactly could the Warrior of Light require of him in circumstances such as these?

“Please don’t laugh.. I can’t turn the water on,”

Who would have guessed The Eikon Slayer’s greatest nemesis yet: _a shower?_

He didn’t laugh, but clearly wrestled with the idea. However, when she scurried out of the way he knew she was serious. For as awkward and painful their exchange, he made quick work of the conundrum, and soon a steamy jet of water burst forth.

“Um..” Tentatively, perhaps even _shyly_ , she fiddled with her hands half behind the wall of the adjacent section, “ _Thank you_ ,”

“Any act to convince you of my intentions is no trouble at all,”

As the man asserted his sincerity, she caught more than an eyeful of his exposed torso. From the Castrum, no doubt, pink patches branded as deeply into the tissue as the weight of his lasting memory—their ultimate encounter, his catastrophic failure—and as numerous and far-reaching as the continents across his umber skin. _Her fault_.

Mauh's breath caught in her throat, a reflex that she regretted immediately. While she could not deny her absolute anger then, in the near silence of the bath there was nothing, no spark, no match to relight her previous rage.

She could have rubbed his nose in it like a sorry mutt he was, relinquished by his royal masters, but when faced with a living, breathing man and not a suit of armor she remained.. _tepid_.

“..We were going to kill each other. I thought you were a _monster_ ,”

He was displaced by this turn of events. “..And?”

“It was easier then. Now.. not so much,”

“Is it not better to focus on the present than our previous engagements?”

“I.. don’t know,” There was a time she would have agreed had history not a nasty habit of resurfacing as of late. G’raha. _Hades_.

“Let us keep it simple, then; I will not ask you to forego the past, but only for your current cooperation against our common enemy. Still.. why change your mind?”

“I saw them: the children. _Your_ children. You saved Alphinaud—and that may have simply been to earn our trust—but you raised them. They _loved_ you,”

Taken aback by her advanced understanding of the matter which he’d only scratched the surface of, Gaius crossed his arms. There was one explanation more likely than the rest.

“That ‘gift’ of yours is.. most _uncanny_ ,” Through her effort to make a point, Mauh had dug the dagger of his recent loss another inch into his old heart: Milisandia. _His fault_.

Growing conscientious of her ramblings, she felt her face grow hot. The dancer’s sudden, uncharacteristic need to fill the spaces in the silence she otherwise relished in would be her undoing.. and also _his_ fault.

“..I can’t control it.. I-I didn’t mean to pry,”

“Do not fret. If I am to atone for my past sins, secrecy is the least of my concerns,”

“Lord Baelsar..?”

“‘Gaius’ is sufficient,”

Hesitating, she did not oblige him. “..You’ll forgive me. This is a lot to take in,”

“But certainly no challenge for the Warrior of Light?”

Coloring slightly, Mauh shrank back from the wall between them. “Please.. don’t flatter me,”

“Having experienced your capabilities first hand, I’d think myself an authority on the matter.. Regardless, you are right. They are my children,” he confirmed, “and as their father I led them astray,”

Gaius Baelsar—a _dad_.

“..It’s not over yet. You can still save them,”

Raising his head from his stupor, Gaius blinked as the savior of the realm received him with a sentiment beyond fire and brimstone.

“I can help. I-I mean.. we need to stop the weapons project either way, right?”

“Yes,” the spot where Ultima’s successor bested him gave a particularly vicious throb then, “..the danger they pose to the realm cannot be overlooked. Were it not for my injuries, I would have joined you in battle today,”

“There’s nothing to be done. Until you’re better.. I’ll do my best,”

“You have my gratitude,” As a gesture of good will, he offered his weathered hand to shake.

“Don’t be mistaken.. It’s not because of you, okay?”

As Mauh continued contemplating the hefty olive branch held her way, there was a commotion down the hall too loud and pressing to be ignored.

“Misss Mauh! A ssstrange man wa—“ the Ananta woman burst through the door just as their fingers touched, ".. _Ah_."

Regrettably, she caught on rather quickly to what appeared to be taking place and slithered away.

“I must not have been as stealthy as I thought,” he grumbled. Damn injuries.

Mauh, on the other hand, was preoccupied by a more.. sensitive matter. Her.. him.. together and half-clothed..

“Oh, no.. they’re going to think we were—that we’re going to—I.. I have to go!” she climbed back into her gear in record speed, hopping towards the door.

“Wait!”

Alas, Mauh disregarded him and was gone before the clink of something forgotten in her scramble hit the floor.


End file.
